OC - Theodore
Last year, I participated in a writing contest for an artist called RH6 (@Rottenheart66 on Formerly-Twitter). I was directed to the contest by a commissioner, who shall remain nameless for the time being. I donāt really know anything about RH6ās work, but there was a cash prize involved for the winner, and potential for some art for everybody who took part, so I decided to give it a go. Well, the bad news is it seems I didnāt get first place. The good news, however, is that RH6 agreed to make new references for a couple of my OCs as my participation prize! The linework was all his creation; the coloring was done by an artist who would prefer to remain anonymous.
Case in point: a brand new ref for Theodore Hamilton! Much like the recent updated ref for Maelstrom by @hooter-n-company, I like the new additions to Theoās look! Itās the same basic design heās always had, but I love the red lining on his hat and coat, the more āwonkyā look of his personal broom, and other little touches here and there, like the highlights in his hair. I also love his smug smirk; for all his grouchiness, he can be quite the smug dastard. Once again, those who have been around my page for a while probably already know Theo, buuut I have retconned some things about him over the years and this IS a new ref for him, so for those of you who are newā¦Theodore is based on The Wicked Witch of the West from the āOzā stories! (Heās most influenced by the version from the film āOz the Great and Powerful,ā but there are touches of other takes in his character as well.) Theo is a very jaded individual, to say the least: he was born with a highly unusual skin disorder, which runs in his family tree. His skin is an odd green hue, and is allergic to water: a small amount wonāt hurt him too badly, but typically, he only goes near water if heās going to drink it. Otherwise it can burn him. (He uses magically-enhanced materials to keep clean and takes pills to keep the allergy from being too severe.) This resulted in him being mocked as a child, and he uses a special potion to keep his true appearance hidden most of the time. This is literally just the "skin deep" start of what makes Theodore the rahter nasty person he is. His life has been filled with bitter disappointments and a great deal of prejudices, for reasons I wonāt go into (like with Maelstrom, I havenāt written his Chapter Story yet, and I want to keep at least a few surprises). The result of all these issues is an outlook of defiance and avoidance: he genuinely believes that thereās no point trying to make friends, because either theyāll betray him or heāll hurt them in some way or another. He believes the only way to find happiness is through having enough power that you can command respect and force people to either keep to your will, or keep back and stay away. As a result, heās a bit obsessive over finding ways to enhance his magical abilities, and is a bit of a perfectionist in subjects that matter to him. Theodore is hot-tempered and highly mercurial: he tends to flip-flop between two primary āmodes.ā Half the time heās a reclusive sourpuss, very grumpy and standoffish, prickly and easily annoyed. The other half of the time, heās smug and snarky, cackling and grinning at others' misery like a madman. He tends to push people away for the reasons I already gave, and behaves in a fashion that naturally ensures most folks wonāt like him or try to get close to him: after all, if they donāt care about him, he wonāt care about them. The less attachments he has, the less likely anyone is going to get hurt unless he WANTS them to get hurt. If they call him āwickedā for that, heāll accept it. Underneath his snarly and sneering exterior, he's a very self-deprecating person who doesn't quite know how to handle genuine emotions. Theodoreās Unique Magic is called āFly, My Pretties!ā It allows him to summon strange shadow creatures, which typically resemble winged monkeys. These āShadow Monkeysā are steadfastly obedient and loyal to Theodore, but donāt have a ton of agency on their own: they only exist to do whatever he orders them to. The more monkeys Theodore summons, the more magical power it uses up. Even without his āpretties,ā Theodore is a dangerous young mage: heās extremely skilled with fire-based magic, especially, and is also a flying ace on a broomstick. He typically uses a broom he got as a gift from his late grandmother as his ride of choice. He is able to fly faster and with more skill in all kinds of ways than almost anybody else at NRC; even some of the most able Spelldrive sportsmen canāt out-fly Theodore Hamilton. Oh, he also likes candy. A lot. And gingerbread cookies. Heās a bit embarrassed about that.
I'll be posting the other pieces of art I got from RH6 on Wednesday. ;)














